Sports

Friday, September 19, 1997

Pecos shifting lineup for Sweetwater match

Skip to next storyPECOS, Sept. 19 -- Pecos Eagles' coach Becky Granado will be looking for
some more offense on Saturday, when the Eagles open the road portion of
their District 4-4A volleyball schedule in Sweetwater against the
Mustangs.

Play will start about 3 p.m. in Sweetwater, after the freshmen and
junior varsity matches at 1 and 2:15 p.m. Both teams come into play
having dropped their district openers -- the Eagles by 15-13, 10-15,
16-14 scores to Andrews and the Mustangs by 15-1, 15-2 margins to San
Angelo Lake View.

Pecos' failure to hold a 12-3 lead in the opener, and their inability to
generate the offense needed at the end of Game 3, when the Eagles held a
13-10 lead, led Granado to make some lineup changes for Saturday.

"I switched Ivy (Thorp) and Marisol (Arenivas) to where Sherrie (Mosby)
will be on the front line when Lori (Marquez) goes to the back. We'll
see if that helps," Granado said. Marquez was the only consistent hitter
for Pecos in all three games of Tuesday's loss, a problem that hurt
Pecos last season as well.

"We're going to see if we can get more sets to her (Mosby). Her hits
aren't as strong as Lori's, but when she goes up they come straight
down, so I hope we can have a little more offense," Granado said.

After going 1-9 in district play last season and winning just six
matches overall, Sweetwater got off to a 6-0 start this year. They also
have far more players to work with than the six varsity team members
they were left with in 1996, after several players walked off the squad.
But the Mustangs were overpowered by the defending District 4-4A champs
on Tuesday, as Lake View jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opener and
never looked back.

This is the first of two long Saturday road trips for Pecos in district
play. Along with Saturday's four-hour bus ride to Sweetwater, the Eagles
will close regular season play at San Angelo Lake View. The Maidens play
in Andrews Saturday, while Fort Stockton faces Big Spring in the other
District 4-4A match.

Following Saturday's match, the Eagles will go back on the road Tuesday
for matches in Fort Stockton. Pecos' next home match is Sept. 27,
against Big Spring.

Pecos' seventh grade green and white volleyball teams dropped a pair of
matches on Thursday, after the Eagles' purple and gold squads won their
matches earlier in the week over Monahans.

Late TDs decide games for both Eagles, Loboes

By JON FULBRIGHT
Sports Editor
Skip to next storyPECOS, Sept. 19 -- Score first and lose was the way things went in Pecos
Thursday night, and both Pecos and Monahans scored comeback victories in
sub-varsity football play.

Pecos' eighth graders split their season openers, winning the `B' game
by an 8-6 score, then losing the `A' game, 8-6, while the Eagles'
freshmen took a quick 8-0 lead on Monahans, only to see the Loboes rally
for a 21-8 win.

Over in Monahans, Pecos teams also were 1-2 on the evening, with Pecos'
junior varsity losing by a 42-0 final score, while the seventh grade
Eagles split, winning the `A' game, 8-0, while losing the `B' contest,
30-16.

The freshmen got an 80-yard scoring run from Omar Muniz on the game's
first play, with Vincent Preito adding the two-point conversion. But the
Loboes would answer twice before halftime for a 15-8 lead, then scored
on their opening drive of the third period to close things out. The loss
left the ninth graders with an 0-2 season record.

The JV also fell to 0-2 with their loss. "It wasn't the best of our
games," was how coach Jay Ragland put it. The team will have two weeks
to regroup, before facing Kermit on Oct. 2.

The eighth graders biggest problem was the number of people in uniform.
The Eagles' `A' team had only 13 players suited up, which is about right
for a 6-man football team. That meant almost all the players went the
entire game in 104-degree temperatures and it showed, as Monahans scored
late, then added the winning conversion on their third attempt, thanks
to two Pecos penalties.

Tony Harris' two-yard run just before halftime was the only score for
the ~`A' team, which goes to Alpine next week.

Both the `A' and `B' teams will be combined, which should allow for more
rest. The `B' team had enough reserves on the sideline to come on in the
final period for the win, after Monahans scored on a 70-yard punt return
in the third period. Brian Fuentes' 21-yard run tied the game, and Chris
Lara's two-point conversion provided the margin of victory.

The seventh graders won their first `A' game thanks to a fourth quarter
touchdown run of 63 yards by Paul Juarez, with Matthew Levario adding
the two-point conversion.

In the `B' game, the Loboes scored three of their four touchdowns in the
first half, before Pecos got on the scoreboard on 36- and 16-yard
touchdown runs by Dominic Jenkins. Ruvel Carrasco had the two-point
conversions.

"Our defense played pretty good on the `A' team," said coach Jerry
Parent, while in the `B' game, he said, "They came back in the second
half and finally realized they could play some football in the second
half."

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Eagles varsity goes to Monahans to face the
Loboes. It's the second of three straight games against District 3-3A
teams for Pecos, which travels to Fabens next week, while its the second
of three games against their former District 4-4A rivals for Monahans.
The Loboes lost their season opener at Big Spring and will host Fort
Stockton next week.

Last night in Lubbock, Big Spring dropped their first game of the
season, 27-21 to Lubbock Estacado. The Matadors turned a fourth quarter
Steers' fumble into the winning touchdown, after the Steers rallied from
a 21-7 deficit to tie the game on Antwoyne Edwards' third touchdown of
the night. The senior ran for 183 yards in a losing effort.

Tonight's other games have Andrews going to Midland High, Fort Stockton
hosting Lamesa, San Angelo hosting Austin LBJ and Sweetwater taking on
Frenship at home.

Andrews (2-0) at Midland High (1-1): The Mustangs showed last week
they've got more than just Shaud Williams on offense, though he sure
helps. Williams had all but 23 yards of his team's offense in the
Mustangs' 42-0 victory over Snyder, but last week he was `held' to 149,
while the rest of the team rolled up 180 in a 43-9 win over Brownfield.

Midland High will be geared up to stop Williams, while after last week,
the Mustangs have to worry about stopping the Bulldogs' Camar Jackson
and Shemond Davis. Jackson ran for 91 yards and passed for 39 in last
week's 50-6 rout of El Paso Bel Air, while Davis ran for two TDs and
caught a third from Jackson in the rout. The Bulldogs last big win came
a year ago, 30-6 at Andrews, so the Mustangs have a revenge factor to
motivate them.

Lamesa (0-2) at Fort Stockton (2-0): Homecoming for the Panthers, and it
should be another big night for Jacob Vasquez, whose already run for
nearly 400 yards and nine TDs in two games. Fort Stockton has hardly
thrown the ball and probably won't start tonight, since Pecos gained 313
yards rushing two weeks ago against the Tornadoes. But if they do, San
Angelo Lake View threw for 303 yards a week ago against Lamesa, which
has lost 11 consecutive games.

The Tors did rack up nearly 200 yards rushing themselves last week, and
have scored 18 points in the first period of their first two games. But
Lamesa's been shut out in the final three periods both times, and they
don't have as much speed as in recent years.

Austin LBJ (0-2) at San Angelo Lake View (1-1): Lake View got a pair of
scares last year in Austin, as LBJ almost pulled off an upset after a
lopsided loss to Bastrop, and the lightning and rain was so fierce the
game had to be canceled at halftime with San Angelo up, 17-14.

LBJ again comes into tonight's game off a lopsided loss to Bastrop,
52-0, while Lake View righted things a bit after their bad loss to
Kerrville by beating Lamesa, 30-12. Alonzo Robinson's passing numbers
are almost as good as those put up by Sterlin Gilbert for three seasons,
though Kendall Jones' ongoing ankle problems have hampered the Chiefs'
running game. Defensively, Lake View has given up nearly 500 yards on
the ground, and will get tested by back Willie Simpson, who ran for 255
yards in a season-opening loss to Waco University.

Frenship (1-1) at Sweetwater (2-0): The week before Midland High crushed
Bel Air they lost a 24-23 decision at Frenship, which then lost it own
narrow decision last week, 23-21 at Canyon Randall.

Quarterback Jayson Haynie led a 72-yard scoring drive that gave the
Tigers the victory, and will have to be sharp tonight if Frenship has a
chance at an upset.

Baseball realignment plans down, but not out

Return to topATLANTA, Sept. 19 (AP) -- Baseball owners have abandoned their attempt
at radical realignment and are concentrating on a more moderate plan
that has five or seven teams switching leagues.

Owners, unable to from a plan with enough support for approval, extended
their deadline for a decision from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15 and said it could
be delayed again.

Realignment committee chairman John Harrington said about a half-dozen
plans were under consideration, and acting commissioner Bud Selig
finally admitted the total geographic realignment, in which 15 teams
would have switched leagues, is ``very, very, very unlikely.''

``They've looked at more maps than Magellan,'' Selig said after the
relatively brief 2½-hour session.

Proponents of realignment appear set on switching Anaheim, Oakland and
Seattle to the National League and moving Florida and Montreal to the
American. Some also would like to move Houston and possibly Arizona to
the AL in exchange for Kansas City and possibly Milwaukee.

``We have a difficult job in front of us,'' Atlanta Braves president
Stan Kasten said, ``because we have 30 teams, which means we have 30
different histories, 30 different sets of circumstances, 30 different
needs. And it's very difficult, probably impossible, to perfectly
harmonize all 30 of the different sets of needs. No plan is perfect.''

San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan, the chief obstacle to the
five-team plan, has threatened to sue if owners attempt to move Oakland
into the NL, not wanting his rival to share what he feels is the Giants'
exclusive right to play NL games in the Bay area.

Some owners, notably Jerry Colangelo of the Diamondbacks, say they are
willing to take Magowan on in court.

Selig said the players association has been repeatedly informed of the
debate. Union head Donald Fehr, speaking in New York, said it was too
soon to draw a conclusion.

``There is a fundamental question of eliminating the American League
presence on the West Coast,'' Fehr said.

Some of the teams who would have switched leagues as part of a total
geographic realignment don't want to move if only a few teams are
changing leagues.

``Houston is not going to the American League,'' Astros owner Drayton
McLane said.

While Selig originally intended to press for a decision Thursday, he
changed his mind when it was apparent there was no consensus. Instead,
the meeting became a forum for each team to express its views.

Selig said owners would meet again very soon, but wouldn't put a
timetable on it. He said a special meeting during the postseason was
possible, but in recent years owners have not met during October,
preferring to keep fans' focus on the field. A telephone meeting remains
a possibility, as does another extension of the deadline.

League offices usually give teams the schedule for the following season
in July. Last year, the schedule was delayed until November because of
the debate on a new labor contract, required for the start of
interleague play.

``We all are aware of the passage of time because we have to get a
schedule out,'' Magowan said. ``We have to tell our season-ticket
holders what's going on. We have to tell the networks what's going on.
We have to tell the players what's going on. The pressure is on us to
come up with a decision.''

In the other major business at the meetings, owners approved guidelines
for allowing teams to sell public shares. However, teams will not be
allowed to put the majority of their stock in the marketplace, and
voting rights of public shares will be restricted.

Some teams, such as the Minnesota Twins, have floated the possibility of
public offerings. The Twins are seeking funding from the Minnesota
government for a new ballpark and also are thought to be talking to
Charlotte, N.C., possibly to exert pressure on elected officials. The
Minnesota legislature meets in a special session next month to consider
funding legislation.

As for realignment, the debate began in January after the 1998 expansion
teams were assigned to leagues, Arizona to the NL and Tampa Bay to the
AL. None of the AL Central teams wanted to move to the AL West, and the
issue was left unresolved.

Dozens of plans have been presented since, most involving a 16-team NL
of four divisions and a 14-team AL of three divisions. Two 15-team
leagues, the structure owners approved in January, would require an
interleague game nearly every day, and teams now want to avoid that.

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